A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Today is the most democratic (small d) day of the year in travel. That’s because it’s January 1, and in many programs everyone’s elite status counters get reset to zero (except for those squirrely foreign programs that have membership years based on the date you joined, and American that has extended the elite earning year by two months).
I have exactly the same number of elite qualifying miles and nights as everyone else today.
Delta Air Lines flight 2097 from Atlanta to Rochester was delayed an hour and one of the airline’s passengers wouldn’t have it. She melted down at gate B14, demanding to speak to a manager – while “calling employees names [and calling a] fellow traveler a weasel.” Delta’s gate agents remained calm throughout.
A Dutch motorcyclist and YouTuber documented their ordeal being extorted by police in Nigeria. Through the social media account ‘Itchy Boots’ they shared their travel through Abuja, where she captured a conversation with an officer who demanded money. The officer involved was dismissed. MilesQuest quotes a commenter who seeks sympathy for the officer, arguing that the conditions they face are tough. These men have to buy their uniforms, fuel and repair their patrol vehicles, sometimes repair their guns and buy their ammunition. It’s really a bigger conversation on the condition of service of the Nigerian police men and women. Some even have to make returns to their superiors. It’s common knowledge that the money they get on the streets goes to their superiors in the office. Not to talk of their living conditions. This gets…
It was already the best status program among the major hotel chains. It’s getting even better for 2024. I’m excited to see they’ll be onboarding Mr. and Mrs. Smith Hotels which offers amazing luxury and boutique properties. I love the places this will unlock for me to spend my points. So I’m excited about the direction Hyatt is headed.
According to social media account ‘Only in Dade’ a pipe burst at the Miami airport, in what appears to be the American Airlines D concourse, and that reports are that toilet system “black water” spilled out onto the concourse.
The 6 year old unaccompanied minor that Spirit Airlines sent to the wrong airport – to Orlando instead of Fort Myers, Florida – isn’t the only minor flown to the wrong place by a U.S. airline this holiday season.
It was, naturally, another Florida flight. The 16 year old was flying from Tampa to Cleveland and wound up in San Juan on December 22.
An American Airlines flight from Rio de Janeiro to Miami on Saturday experienced a disturbance prior to departure involving a passenger who had a meltdown. The incident, captured on camera, showed the man screaming in Spanish, claiming he was being killed.
Crew members and passengers intervened, restraining the man and attempting to use duct tape to secure him. The man yells “help” and “they’re killing me” in Spanish, while a passenger attempts to use duct tape on his mouth.
If a single Airbus A320 was misjudged by a single truck driver or crane operator, acting alone, we could chalk that up to that’s what insurance is for. But these aren’t – or at least shouldn’t be – operations planned by a single individual. Even a 34 year old narrowbody aircraft fuselage headed to the boneyard is worth measuring for height, and checking the heights of bridges along the planned route before ploughing ahead.
A passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight from Washington DC to Dallas snapped a photo of an entire row of seats blocked off using bags of donuts. The passenger who did it wasn’t even seated in the row but nearby, saving those seats for their family.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
